The "ThunderCats" supporting cast, including Tygra, all get more screen time and richer backgrounds than they had in the '80s original.

They say you can’t go home, that recapturing your childhood is impossible. And that might be. But producer Michael Jelenic has done an excellent job bringing back a small part of my childhood with his re-imagining of “ThunderCats” for Cartoon Network.

Premiering with a one-hour installment at 8 tonight (July 29), the new “ThunderCats” successfully echoes the fun, wonder and all-around coolness of the original characters while ditching some of the dated trappings of ’80s-syndication and offering up a more sophisticated, if still kid-friendly, plot.

Lion-O is still a prince, but when his kingdom is attacked by a race of lizard men, he must prove his royal mettle by leading a small band of heroes against the forces of the evil Mumm-Ra. And this time technology, so much a part of the ThunderCats’ arsenal in the original, is solely in hands of the bad guys.

The most obvious difference (other than the characters’ sleekier, edgier looks) is that the new series plays more like an ensemble show — a team show. I remember characters like Tygra and Cheetara being so cool in the original run. But when I rewatched a few old shows last week, I realized that most episodes focused mostly on Lion-O and his annoying fluffy nurse maid, Snarf.

Here, Tygra is Lion-O’s older, cockier, and more confident adopted brother. And their sibling rivalry adds considerable depth to their characters.

“We very much wanted this show to be more character driven,” Jelenic said Thursday by phone. “In the old series they focused a lot on Lion-O. He’d sort of leave the group and go off on his adventure, and then they’d all reunite in the end. But our take on this series was going to be very much a group story. It’s about them interacting with each other. And so we wanted to make sure… there is some sort of interesting dynamic in the group.”

Adding to the dynamic between Lion-O and Tygra is their mutual affection for Cheetara, now a mysterious (but still speedy) cleric.

So not only is Tygra, as Jelenic says, an “adopted half brother who everybody looks at as someone who should be the king of Thundera but can’t because he’s not a lion,” he is also part of “a love triangle where it’s like, is Cheetara going to be something that Lion-O wins above him again?”

Fans of the original series also will see some familiar villaious faces. Evil lackeys Slythe, Monkian, Jackalman and Vultureman all will return. Jelenic said while they were mostly played for comedic effect in the original, they are bit more “imposing and complex” this time around. Of the four, only Slythe appears in tonight’s premiere.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be “ThunderCats” without Mumm-Ra. But don’t look for him to be much more complex than before. He’s still just really, really evil.

“One of the challenges with doing a show for the 6-11 (age) range is you want to be clear that the bad guy is bad,” Jelenic said. “It’s really important that he comes off as the personification of evil. People always talk about Darth Vader, how he was the greatest villain of all time until he took off the mask in ‘Return of the Jedi,’ and all of a sudden he was just like a fat bald guy. That’s the danger of bringing backstory and some complexities to these types of properties. (Mumm-Ra) sort of stays as sort of the big bad villain who we don’t know much about. We keep him a little mysterious.”

Check out a preview of the new series below, then tune in at 8 tonight on Cartoon Network.

[youtube OjuCkRA1qtI]

Submit Your Comments

Name

Required

Mail

Required, will not be published

Website

Comment

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.